| abstract | - A typical issue had comic strips, (containing real photographs from the episodes), competitions, puzzles and quizzes. The main feature of the comic was the center page spread, of a cut-away drawing by Graham Bleathman. Artist Lee Sullivan also produced many of the covers for the series. The comic had 32 pages and the original copies retailed for £1.45. This went up to £1.50 by issue No. 8, and kept on rising steadily with inflation until reaching £1.95 by issue 89. For the first 10 issues the comic was published monthly moving to 3 weekly from issue 11. Throughout the comic the young reader was encouraged to remove pull-out sections or colour in pages, making it very hard for collectors to find copies in a mint condition. Further damage occurred, as every issues contained a free gift sellotaped to the cover, again causing damages when removed. By issue number 59, Thunderbirds had not been seen on British television for some time, and interest in the comic faded below acceptable sales figures. In an effort to regenerate interest, it was renamed "Thunderbirds Extra" and the first issue was numbered 64. Numbers 60, 61, 62 and 63, were in pre-production but very few (if any) were sold. Another reason for the re-launch was that it was the 40th year since the first television screening of Thunderbirds. The publication was again cancelled after only 26 further issues, and thus finally brought to a close at issue number 89.
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